June 17, 2010. Posted by Brandy Wood.

As part of Father's Day weekend at Brooklyn Children's Museum (NYC's first "Green Museum"), enjoy a performance of original compositions by pianist Helen Sung. This family-friendly event is perfect for fathers, kids and the entire family! Photo: Joseph A. Cina

June 14, 2010. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Davis: "There are so many beautiful moments here."Janette: "They're just moments. They're not a life."

Within the song-and-dance pageantry, there's an extended discussion about the nature of art going on in Treme. In one corner, there's the default belief that art is a leisure activity which stands in the way of life: where making music, or preparing haute cuisine, or writing novels is seen as an unsustainable, even irresponsible way to go about paying your bills and feeding your kids. In the other, there's the New Orleans sentiment that art happens every day, all the time; that art is life.

It's one of the show's central conflicts: musicians and other cultural artists are constantly hustling to justify their collective existence. But in episode nine, it's especially strong: Antoine and Creighton both have children to raise; Albert has to keep a day job to support his hobby; Janette has too many expenses to pay; Davis has a very evident blindness to the consequences of his hedonism; Annie and Sonny have a fractious relationship apart from performing. The arrival of Janette's parents, the payment negotiation scene with Jon Cleary, the manual labor of Albert's young charge, and the hard-working Texas carpenter only sets this into further relief. And by the end, the struggle to create art seems to have pushed at least one character to a breaking point.

Josh Jackson returns here to write about all this, and the music to boot. Our Treme archives are here; HBO's full playlist is here.